14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is once again having problems in Russia, this time following claims of price fixing as part of a scheme that also involved 16 major local resellers.
The Russia Federal Anti-Monopoly Service says an investigation has already started in order to determine whether Apple and a number of resellers tried to set the same price for the iPhone 6s and maintained it at the same level for a longer period of time.
“The Anti-Monopoly Service sees signs of price fixing violations in the Russian Federation at Apple iPhone resellers, which resulted in the same prices for these smartphones,” the organization is quoted as saying in a Reuters report.
It appears that the entire case was started after a local customer complained that Apple and resellers were selling the iPhone 6s and the 6s Plus at an identical price since the launch in October 2015, and all of them maintained it for several months. Because of the price fixing, the iPhone didn’t get any cheaper for a long period of time, according to investigators.
Most of the retailers involved in the case have already refused to comment on the claims, but Euroset, which is one of the largest stores in Russia and one of the companies that were believed to participate in the price fixing, denied the accusations and said it didn’t collaborate with other stores or with Apple to use an identical price for the new iPhone models.
Apple, the dictator
This isn’t the first time when Apple is involved in a scandal in Russia, as local carrier MTS accused the company back in 2012 of turning to “dictatorship” to sell the iPhone 4s in the country without any discount.
“They’re more in a dictatorship mode where they say, ‘This is what you have to do or you don’t get the iPhone.’ Being arrogant with your partners in big markets doesn’t pay off,” an MTS rep was quoted as saying back then.
This time, however, Apple hasn’t angered local companies, but the competition watchdog, so it remains to be seen if any fines will be issued. For the moment, the company has remained tight-lipped, just like it did in 2012, but Apple is undoubtedly willing to work together with Russian authorities to end this case without any financial penalty.